The Boy
Chapter 4: The Boy Gets A Checkup
Charlie lay the sleeping little boy down on the bed in the boy's room, a soft smile on his lips.
The boy had fallen asleep on the floor with the dirty stuffed toy tucked under his arm and Charlie had picked him up and Sarah had pried the toy from his little skinny hands so that she could go place it in the washing machine. Charlie had been quite grateful that the boy hadn't been awake to see the snake plushy go into the machine. He remembered his own little girl's tantrums over her favorite pink mouse plushy whenever she came for a visit the previous years. He really didn't want to witness a tantrum over a googly eyed toy snake.
He bend down to press a kiss on the child's forehead, his mind going to the call he will have to make soon to appease his ex-wife. Though, it will have to wait until morning because it was already too late to call his little girl.
Straightening, he groaned lightly as his back popped, thinking that bending over wasn't such a great idea, but how else was he supposed to lay down a child? He sighed, shaking his head lightly before reaching out to switch on the nightlight and then leaving the room, switching off the overhead light, plunging the room into semi-darkness, the soft gloom of the nightlight the only light in the room.
He did not close the door, leaving it open so that when he was in his own room, he can hear Harry if he called for him. Not that he thought the boy would call for him or anyone else for that matter. The Dursleys had seemed to cure him of all and any such notions when he lived with them.
Charlie had learned this tidbit of information when Harry had wanted to go potty when they were in their hotel room. He had woken up to hear the boy crying when he couldn't use the toilet because it was too high and he was too small to even get onto the seat, not to mention, he would have fallen in if he managed to get onto the seat. Anyway, he had told the little boy to call him next time and the little boy had told him that his 'Unca Velnon' had been very angry whenever he called for him and Petunia and he would get punished. Charlie's heart had broken into a million little pieces at hearing that and had vowed to himself to always listen when the little boy called, no matter what.
Charlie walked downstairs to rejoin Billy and Sarah.
"He's quite small, Charlie," Sarah began with concern as he took a seat on his favorite couch. "Are you sure that he is four?"
"Well, his birth certificate says that he was born July Thirty-first Nineteen Eighty. So, you tell me."
"Oh…Then is he perhaps one of the little people, you know the um_?" Sarah waved her hand in elaboration, not knowing if saying dwarf or some such would offend anyone.
Charlie shook his head. "No, Sarah, I don't think so. I think he's been starved and that had stunted his growth. Which reminds me, I should probably make an appointment for him for a checkup with Doc Gerandy . I didn't trust the unknown doctors in England for that. I feel_" He waved a hand around just like Sarah had, but his wave was because he didn't know how to word his explanation.
"Uncomfortable with them handling Harry?" Billy helpfully supplied.
"Yes, Billy, but it's not just that. I trust Doc Gerandy, because he is known and he is a friend."
Billy only nodded at that simple explanation.
"Well then," Sarah stated, patting Billy's knee and getting to her feet. "We have little ones of our own at home. Sue is probably climbing out the walls what with the twins and her Leah being together in her house. At least, Jacob is still so young and can't cause any trouble."
Charlie and Billy stood and Sarah hugged Charlie fiercely for a few moments before letting go and giving Billy a chance to hug their friend. "Call us any time you need help with Harry, Charlie," Billy said, clapping him gently on the back.
"And bring him by to play with the twins and Jacob," Sarah added. "I am sure that he'll like that."
"I'll be sure to do that, thanks," Charlie replied. He accompanied them to their truck, waving as they drove away before turning and walking back into his house.
He closed the front door behind him, locking it and then leaning against it for a moment, breathing in and out as he thought of the task that now lay before him; to raise a child to the best of his abilities and hope that he didn't royally mess it up.
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"Harry Potter," the nurse announced, holding a clipboard in her hands from where she read the name of little boy from.
Her eyes roamed over the full waiting room, landing on Officer Charlie Swan and his little nephew, who clutched tightly onto a googly eyed stuffed snake, sitting next to a bonsai plant in the furthest corner of the room. Lifting a hand, she beckoned to them. Officer Swan stood up quickly, hiking the boy up further into his arms.
To get a date for a doctor's appointment wasn't easy for Charlie, considering the fact that Doc Gerandy are a terribly busy doctor and only emergencies are given precedence. A simple checkup does not fall in that category, unfortunately. Thus, Charlie had to wait a day or two before the receptionist could fit him in.
That morning, he had made sure to give his nephew a bath and dress him nicely in clean jeans and a warm red long-sleeved t-shirt. A warm tracksuit top and a pair of socks and trainers rounded off the outfit. It had been quite the hassle when they were about to leave for the doctor's practice and Harry started crying because Tom was going to be left behind. In the end, Charlie had given in, just this once of course, and had let Tom come along.
The nurse gave Charlie a polite smile as he followed her with Harry, who looked around curiously as they walked down a hallway. He returned the smile with a barely there one, feeling quite nervous on Harry's part for this checkup.
Doctor Gerandy was a man nearly in his fifties and quite popular in this little town of theirs. He had friendly blue eyes, crinkling at the corners from smiling a lot and he wasn't one of those quacks that knew nothing of properly treating sick people, thankfully. Doc Gerandy also had been the doctor who had been present at Charlie's own little Bella's birth.
The nurse led them into examination room where Doc Gerandy already was waiting for them.
"Ah, Charlie, how good to see you again," the doctor greeted, jovially shaking Charlie's hand.
"Likewise, Doc. How are you doing?"
The doctor smiled amicably. "I'm quite good, Charlie, and you?"
"I have complaints, Doc."
"That's good. So," he clapped his hands together, "What can I do for you?"
"Um…I brought Harry for a checkup, Doc." He went on to tell the doctor about the Dursleys, and how he was given custody of the little boy. He didn't tell the doctor the whole story, though, because that would've taken too long, but he summarized it well enough for the doctor to understand the important parts.
The doctor nodded as he listened and then, once Charlie was finished, he told Charlie to place the boy on the bed in the corner so that he could start the checkup.
The checkup took longer than Charlie thought. The doctor did everything from listening to the boy's lungs to drawing blood samples and asking questions like "Did he get vaccinated."
Charlie, thankfully, had brought along the meager bit of medical information that Petunia had provided him and could give it to the doctor, who read the documents over with a frown here and there.
"Your sister took him for his needed vaccinations, I see, but I don't think she gave him any recommended medicine needed for his growth and everything else, Charlie. By the looks of this little one, he will need a lot of care to grow up strong and healthy. He is severely underweight, not to mention too small for his age. You're going to have to feed him lots of healthy foods and give him the much needed medicines such as vitamins and minerals needed for his young body to prosper. I'll write out a list of what is needed, but I recommend seeing the dietician Doctor Norah Riddle at the hospital. She works with cases such as this one and can better help to get our little boy back to full health."
Charlie listened quietly as the doctor spoke, while watching Harry, who sat on the bed, looking rather unhappy. He didn't like doctors it seemed and Charlie can't say he blamed him. He himself shied away from medical practitioners if he got the chance to.
Unfortunately, today cannot be helped and Charlie wasn't about to feel guilty for wanting to help his little boy to grow up healthy. Harry would just have to endure it having to visit doctors. It is for his own good and Charlie will endure it alongside him if he had to.
With a time and date for a next appointment as well as a prescription for some much needed medication, which the doctor didn't have with him at the moment, the two of them left the examination room a few minutes later, Harry clutching onto Charlie tightly, his cute little face hidden against Charlie's shoulder.
Charlie didn't mind the boy's clingy behavior as he walked through the waiting room, waving to the nurse, who doubled as a receptionist. He decided, as he strapped Harry into the car-seat he would normally use for Bella, that he would first go to the hospital to make an appointment with the dietician before going to the pharmacy to get Harry's medication.
Harry was quiet, at first, as they drove to the hospital, his eyes watching the trees looming over the small town. He thought the greenery pretty like the stuffed toy in his arms. He lifted one small skinny hand to touch the window, wishing that he could touch the trees. He couldn't stop the small whimper at his, for now, impossible wish.
"What is it, Harry?"
He turned his head to look at the man sitting beside him. "Pwetty twees, Unca," he said.
Charlie smiled. "They are pretty, aren't they?"
"Gween like Tom."
"And your eyes, Harry."
"Eyes not pwetty," the little boy insisted.
Charlie couldn't help but chuckle at that. Of course the little boy won't find his eyes pretty. The chuckle, however, startled the boy into silence and Charlie had to remind himself that Harry wasn't used to friendly smiles and chuckles. The Dursleys had ruined that for him. It made Charlie feel quite sad.
The hospital weren't too busy as they finally walked through the doors minutes later after Charlie had parked in the visitor's parking lot that was mostly empty apart from two cars and Charlie's truck. A quick enquiry at the front reception desk led them to a small waiting room where a nurse told them that she could fit them in now because there weren't any patients left for the day.
Charlie thanked her and went to sit on a chair beside a magazine stand, placing Harry down on his one knee, bouncing him gently up and down while they waited for the last patient who went in before them to come out.
It wasn't a long wait before the patient left and a woman, probably in her early fifties…sixties? came out of the door behind the patient.
"Doctor Riddle, there's one more patient to see you," the nurse said, gesturing towards Charlie and Harry.
The woman nodded, smiling faintly. "Well, hullo there." Unmistakably British, Charlie thought, having heard Lily use that instead of 'Hello' sometimes. Though, Petunia never much did.
Charlie stood, lifting Harry up higher. "Doc Gerandy recommended I bring Harry to you," he said.
The doctor looked at the little boy in Charlie's arms before motioning for them to follow her into the room she'd just left. Charlie did so half reluctantly, wondering what the woman will say once she took a look at the boy. Hopefully, she won't accuse him of child abuse.
I should just be truthful, he thought as she first began asking a myriad of questions while she began the examination. It was the same sort as Doc Gerandy had done and Harry was quite unhappy at the end of it, his cries breaking Charlie's heart.
Doctor Riddle offered him a chocolate coated marshmallow in the form of a frog of all things, but it didn't stop his crying; he actually pushed the frog marshmallow away. Charlie began bouncing him, whispering soothing words to try and calm him down while the doctor watched them with concern in her eyes.
When Harry finally stopped crying, she offered him the frog again and this time he took it. Charlie thanked her for Harry's sake and she only smiled sadly. Half an hour later Charlie walked out of there with a basic food plan for kids and three tins of some sort of powdered milk in three flavors that he had to make sure to give Harry with every meal. She said that it will strengthen the child's bones and help him grow. She also gave Charlie a whole box of marshmallow frogs. Charlie had no idea why.
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Someone asked me what the pairings will be. As this is a twilight and harry potter crossover, I'm thinking Alice Cullen or Luna Lovegood. It'll probably be Alice, though. This isn't a Tomarry fic nor any of the boy pairings. Sorry. I don't mind homosexual relationships, as I have an uncle and aunt who are gay and lesbian respectively, but I don't think it'll work for this fic. Thanks for all the support.